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Following Filibuster Compromise, Senate Prepares to Confirm
Priscilla Owen to U.S. Appeals Court
Beyond the Gas War: Indigenous Bolivians Fight for "Nationalization
of the Government"
AIPAC Holds National Meeting Amid Spy Scandal Investigation
Anti-Military Recruiting Campaigns Heats up At Seattle Schools
Following Filibuster Compromise, Senate Prepares
to Confirm Priscilla Owen to U.S. Appeals Court
Yesterday, the Senate voted to end debate on the confirmation
of Priscilla Owen to the U.S Appeals Court, clearing the way
for her confirmation. The vote came after a surprise compromise
was reached Monday night that averted a showdown over judicial
nominees. The deal -- agreed upon by a bipartisan group of
14 Senators -- came less than 24 hours before the Republican
leadership was expected to change the Senate rules in order
to deny Democrats the ability to filibuster judicial nominees.
Under the agreement, the Republican leadership will not implement
the so-called nuclear option and Democrats will allow votes
to proceed on at least three of President Bush's nominees
for federal judgeships. However, there was disagreement over
the meaning of the compromise. Republican leader Senator Bill
Frist said that the agreement "if followed in good faith,
will make filibusters of judicial nominees in the future,
including Supreme Court nominees, almost impossible."
And he said that a ban on the filibuster is still very much
on the table. But Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid said
that the right of the minority party to filibuster is still
available. He said "The agreement that will allow Justice
Owen to receive an up-or-down vote also had the effect of
taking the nuclear option off the tableThis agreement makes
clear that the Senate rules have not changed. The filibuster
remains available to the Senate minority."
- Josh Marshall, is a contributing writer for the Washington
Monthly and a columnist for The Hill. He is the editor of
the blog, talkingpointsmemo.com.
Beyond the Gas War: Indigenous Bolivians Fight for
"Nationalization of the Government"
Massive indigenous-led protests continue to rock South America's
poorest country. The fight for control of Bolivia's vast natural
gas resources is fueling the current crisis but a war is escalating
over the rights of the country's majority indigenous population.
We'll go to Cochabamba to hear from the famed Bolivian resistance
leader Oscar Olivera and longtime Bolivia activist Jim Shultz
of the Democracy Center, as well as activist Moises Gutierrez
Rojas of the Aymara Quichua Indigenous organization. [includes
rush
transcript]
The political situation in Latin America's poorest country
continues to heat up and it's being fueled by a battle over
who will have control of the country's substantial natural
gas reserves. For years, Bolivia has seen a war between pro-US
and pro-corporate regimes and an opposition composed largely
of indigenous communities, labor unions and dissident political
movements.
At the center of these battles has been the debate over control
of Bolivia's water, oil and now natural gas. This week, massive
contingents of indigenous communities have escalated their
campaign to call for the nationalization of the country's
natural gas industry.
Yesterday, tens of thousands of people blockaded roads in
and out of the capital La Paz, while protesters in the militant
city of El Alto blockaded highways connecting the capital
to the rest of the country and to the Peruvian and Chilean
borders. A councilman from El Alto, Roberto de la Cruz, was
among four people arrested. There were also confrontations
with the police who used rubber bullets and water cannons
on the demonstrations. American Airlines suspended its flights
in and out of Bolivia, after activists threatened to occupy
Bolivia's international airport in El Alto. Meanwhile, airport
workers announced a 24-hour strike for today.
The current political crisis has highlighted a division between
the charismatic opposition leader, Evo Morales and his Movement
Toward Socialism party and the more radical indigenous communities
and leaders. The indigenous groups say Morales has sold out
and engaged in unnecessary compromises. They are demanding
total nationalization of the country's natural gas industry
and a rewriting of the constitution, demands that have significant
popular support. For his part, Morales has been pushing for
heavy taxation of foreign companies exploiting Bolivia's gas.
That is essentially what the Bolivian Senate passed last week-a
hydrocarbon law that would tax foreign companies 50% of their
profits from Bolivia. While the law has shaken the foundation
of foreign companies operating there, the indigenous groups
say this is not enough. This is what Evo Morales said on May
17.
- Evo Morales, speaking on May 17:"We could not continue
seeing these laws harm the country. We are asking for the
repeal of other laws and the marches are going to continue.
They are marches fundamentally for the unity of the Bolivian
people, marches for the hydrocarbon law that is a resource
that should benefit Bolivians."
That was Evo Morales, leader of Bolivia's Movement Toward
Socialism party. While the specifics of the fight over control
of natural gas is dominating the current crisis, many observers
say the battle is already headed well beyond that to the bigger
issue over how long the current regime will last and who will
next govern Bolivia.
We go now to Bolivia, where we are joined by two people.
Jim Shultz is the Executive Director of the Democracy Center
in Cochabama, Bolivia. His latest book is called "Deadly
Consequences: The International Monetary Fund and Bolivia"s
Black February." He writes a blog on the situation in
Bolivia that can be found at DemocracyCtr.org. And we are
joined by Oscar Olivera. He is the president of the Cochabamba
Federation of Factory Workers and is widely seen as the key
figure in forcing the Bechtel corporation out of Bolivia in
2000. He is also one of the leading voices in the international
anti-corporate globalization movement. He has a new book out
called "Cochabamba: Water War in Bolivia." And,
we are joined in our studio by Moises Gutierrez Rojas. He
is a representative of the Aymara Quichua Indigenous organization
in Bolivia. He is in New York to attend the UN Permanent Forum
on Indigenous Issues.
- Jim Shultz, Executive Director of the Democracy Center
in Cochabama, Bolivia. His latest book is called "Deadly
Consequences: The International Monetary Fund and Bolivia"s
Black February." He writes a blog on the situation
in Bolivia that can be found at DemocracyCtr.org.
- Oscar Olivera, president of the Cochabamba Federation
of Factory Workers in Cochabamba, Bolivia and is one of
the leading voices in the global anti-corporate globalization
movement. He has a new book out called "Cochabamba:
Water War in Bolivia."
- Moises Gutierrez Rojas, Representative of the Aymara
Quichua Indigenous organization in Bolivia. He is in New
York to attend the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
AIPAC Holds National Meeting Amid Spy Scandal Investigation
A Pentagon analyst accused of leaking top-secret information
to a pro-Israel group faces a new charge of illegally taking
classified government documents out of the Washington area
to his West Virginia residence. Larry Franklin was arrested
on May 4th for passing top secret information to employees
of the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC -- the American Israel
Public Affairs Committee.
A Pentagon analyst accused of leaking top-secret information
to a pro-Israel group faces a new charge of illegally taking
classified government documents out of the Washington area
to his West Virginia residence.
Larry Franklin - one of the Pentagon's top analysts working
on Iran - was arrested on May 4th for passing top secret information
to employees of the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC -- the
American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The highly classified
information was then passed on to Israeli officials.
Yesterday, AIPAC closed its three day policy conference in
Washington D.C. AIPAC is one of the most powerful lobbying
groups in Washington D.C. It is consistently ranked among
the top five most influential interest groups in Fortune magazine's
poll of annual poll of Washington insiders. APIAC has a $40
million annual budget, offices across the country and a staff
of lobbyists and researchers in the capital that work on persuading
the U.S government to continue sending billions of dollars
in aid to Israel every year.
This conference was AIPAC's largest with 5,000 participants.
Speakers included Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Israeli
Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon. An AIPAC fact sheet about the
conference stated that there were "more members of Congress"
in attendance "than almost any other event, except for
a joint session of Congress or a State of the Union address."
AIPAC is not named in the criminal complaint but government
officials had previously said Franklin met with two officials
from the organization at a restaurant in June 2003. Those
two men - AIPAC's policy director Steve Rosen and Iran specialist
Keith Weissman -- have since been fired. Franklin has been
accused of providing AIPAC with a draft presidential directive
that proposed a tougher policy on Iran, which included consideration
of covert action towards regime change.
Yesterday's charge of unlawfully possessing classified federal
defense documents focuses on top secret CIA files found in
Franklin's home. He was released yesterday on $50,000 bond
and faces a June 9 hearing.
If convicted on yesterday's charge Franklin faces up to 10
years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The earlier charge carries
a similar prison term.
We are joined on the phone right now by Justin Raimondo,
editorial director of Antiwar.com.
- Justin Raimondo, editorial director of Antiwar.com.
He has an article on Larry Franklin in the forthcoming issue
of The American Conservative. His latest piece on this story
on AntiWar.com is called "Larry Franklin and the Axis
of Espionage."
Anti-Military Recruiting Campaigns Heats up At Seattle
Schools
On Monday, four US military recruiting offices in Seattle
were shut down when students blocked the entrances to protest
recruitment practices and to oppose the occupation of Iraq.
Meanwhile the Parent Teacher Student Association at one school
has passed a resolution recommending that military recruiters
be barred from the campus. [includes rush
transcript]
Students from nine local universities, community colleges
and high schools joined in simultaneous demonstrations. A
military recruiting office near the University of Washington
and another near Garfield High School were also blockaded
by groups of students.
Garfield High School also made news recently when the school's
Parent Teacher Student Association passed a resolution recommending
that military recruiters be barred from the campus. The resolution,
passed on May 9th, was the first of its kind in the state.
Seattle school district officials then released a statement
stating that under President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act,
it was illegal to ban only military recruiters - they must
be granted the same access to students as college or job recruiters
at schools that receive federal money.
Garfield High School is no stranger to speaking out against
the war. In 2002, the school passed a resolution opposing
the invasion in Iraq.
- Amy Hagopian, is the president and co-chair of the Parent
Teacher Student Association at Garfield High School in Seattle,
Washington.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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